Pollution worsens despite millions of cars off road
Air pollution in Beijing worsened on Tuesday despite at least 2 million cars being taken off the road as part of the city's strictest emergency response, or red alert, to the severe smog.
After the second wave of severe smog in as many weeks, the public have continued to question the causes of the hazardous air and demanded harsher preventative measures.
In anticipation of three consecutive days of heavy smog, Beijing instituted an odd-even license plate system Tuesday, allowing only half of the city's 5.57 million registered vehicles to be driven. Thirty percent of government cars are also off the road.
The city beefed up public transportation, with 840 extra buses and by 10 pm Tuesday, 53 more subway trains were added across 15 lines.
Beijing mayor Wang Anshun went on the streets on Tuesday to check on the efficacy of the odd-even license plate system, government news portal qianlong.com reported. He also inspected several construction sites, including one at Xuanwu Hospital. No construction activities were found, the report said.
According to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, up to 2,100 factories should have shut down or cut production during the red alert. The commission will dispatch 17 teams to ensure the factories follow orders.
Beijing also closed several highway sections to reduce traffic.
This latest bout of toxic smog engulfed Beijing on Tuesday after the city announced its most severe smog warning ever.
The average density of PM2.5 particles exceeded 234 micrograms per cubic meter in the city, some 10 times more than the World Health Organization's standard safe level of 25 micrograms per cubic meter. The alert is active from Tuesday until Thursday noon.
Despite the efforts, air quality continued to fall, as the official air quality index climbed to more than 320 on Tuesday night, the heaviest pollution level on a six-tier pollution scheme.
Many citizens are questioning how effective the emergency measures have been, and whether more robust moves could be made to redo the wonders of the so-called "APEC blue" or "parade blue" skies achieved under joint efforts by Beijing and neighboring regions ahead of major events in the capital.
Tens of thousands of factories in Beijing and six neighboring provinces and regions, including Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, Shandong, Inner Mongolia and Tianjin, were shut down or limited production weeks before China staged a military parade in Beijing in September to mark the 70th anniversary of victory in WWII. The powder blue skies impressed the nation at that time, and the PM2.5 density was the lowest since monitoring began in 2012.
High price for clear skies
"The 'parade blue' can't be repeated, because the price is too high for a developing country like China," Wang Gengchen, a research fellow at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Science, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
"It was created under the premise of sacrificing economic benefits; it's unrealistic to normalize the measures taken during the parade," Wang added.
"The red alert is aimed at reducing the major source of pollutants, but even if all the cars were taken off the road, there will still be air pollution, since it has multiple causes," Wang said.
Dong Liansai, a Greenpeace air pollution observer, said that coal-powered industries and the winter heating system, as well as pollutants transmitted from neighboring regions all contribute to the smog which has been exacerbated by unfavorable meteorological conditions.
The North China regions around Beijing, especially Hebei, are home to many heavy industry bases. Hebei produced 185 million tons of steel in 2014, accounting for 22.5 percent of the national total, according to data compiled by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Many people living in the rural areas still burn coal for heating during winter, and they burn straw after harvests to fertilize their lands, which contributes to air pollution.
Many cities in regions near Beijing, including Hebei, Henan and Shandong, also issued yellow or orange alerts on Tuesday, some even red alerts, according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
The ministry dispatched 12 teams to areas around Beijing on Tuesday, but found some enterprises had failed to initiate emergency response plans to cope with the pollution.
Some polluting enterprises, including a stone processing factory and several clothing workshops continued to operate on Tuesday, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
A car paint workshop in downtown Beijing was sealed up on Tuesday by the city's environment protection agency after it received reports of its illegal operations.
Public awareness awakens
Li Zuojun, a deputy director of the Development Research Center of the State Council, told the Global Times earlier that public opinion had pushed the government to take more measures to curb the smog.
"Tackling air pollution has become a major concern of both the government and public. I've seen more people wearing masks today compared to a few years ago. The public has rational opinions and demands to curb air pollution now, which is big progress," Dong said.
The government should make more efforts on industrial restructuring and provide stricter law enforcement of the policies, while the public should supervise some black-listed companies continuing to operate despite the restrictions, Wang added.
"It's not easy to eradicate this smog. Mutual understanding and cooperation should be established between the government and the public, since the public also plays an important role in dealing with air pollution," Wang said.
